Even at the systems level, telemedicine and robots are expanding and concentrating the reach of mind-body medicine. Robot-assisted therapy delivers individually customized physical therapy for stress injury or chronic pain with precision to the level of the micrometer, and online real-time virtual consultations with AI-aided systems of triage allow practitioners to track mood, inflammation, and sleep online in real-time, regardless of geographics. Technologically enabled, smaller centers of wellness based on centers of integrative care are replacing the large centers, with lean, cheap venues where treatments might be individualized, tracked, and iteratively refined with the assistance of online real-time digital feedback.

While the coming convergence of AI, quantum computing, and nanotechnology promises paradigm-changing innovations in the practice of mind-body medicine, it poses serious challenges, as well. By developing the capability of monitoring in real time anything from brain wave patterns to indicators of stress, we must, too, ensure the privacy of such highly personal data. Without affirmative protection, sensitive information may be compromised or sold to the patient's disbenefit. There is an attendant risk that systems of AI, educated in biased information or lacunae in the information, themselves, may misread signals or perpetuate health inequities, disproportionately on the disadvantaged minorities. Over-reliance, however, may dissolve the human relationship at the very center of healing. Mind-body practices are based on empathies, presence, and relational trust, values that algorithms have yet to match. Further, sequential data feedback along wearable biosensors may overwhelm individual persons, inducing anxiety, rather than equilibrium. As the technology itself evolves, it must supplement/facilitate and not replace clinical intuition, human relationships, and individualized care. Consumed with care, the technology may extend the reach of that which we may heal. But consumed en masse without regard, it may reach with the very strengths which underlie the practice of mind-body medicine.

Conclusion

This intersection of brain-wave intelligences and micron-scale precision does not replace the values of mind-body medicine but enhances them. By demonstrating, down to the level of molecules and of network, the way the psychology affects the physiology (and the physiology back again), the instruments verify, yet again, the vital doctrine that the mind and the body are not two, separate entities, but an inseparable whole. And, finally, it is feasible to measure the relationship, back and forth, in real time, and to apply it to individualize healing specific to the individual. Mind-body medicine's future is no longer the topic of speculation. It is taking shape, and it is highly, exactly, and empathetically individualized.

Author Contributions: Sole Author

Funding: None

Institutional Review Board Statement: Not applicable.

Informed Consent Statement: Not applicable.

Data Availability Statement: Not applicable

Acknowledgments: None

Conflicts of Interest: No conflict of interest.

The intention of this editorial is not to claim expertise, but rather to highlight the depth of engagement and familiarity within our group concerning the issues discussed. Our involvement provides us with the appropriate perspective and criteria to thoughtfully contribute to the discourse in this area.